


Protecting Altissia

by Ren_Luna



Series: The Lost Messenger [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Altissia (Final Fantasy XV) Spoilers, Gen, Headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:27:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28008441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ren_Luna/pseuds/Ren_Luna
Summary: Altissia is falling, and Ren has been separated from Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio on their way to find Noctis. Will Ren reach her friends before it's too late?
Series: The Lost Messenger [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055582
Comments: 4
Kudos: 1





	Protecting Altissia

**Author's Note:**

> Ren is a Messenger, closely connected to two Astrals. Which two? Why does she have almost no memory, with most of her divine power sealed away? While this isn't from the beginning of the FFXV story, or even the beginning of when Ren met Noctis and company, it was a sequence of events I thought of often enough that I wanted to try and write out what it might look like.

The city of Altissia was collapsing. Those buildings Ren had thought were so gorgeous only a day before were in ruins. That didn’t matter now; she had to get back to the others.

 _I have to protect them,_ she thought desperately. _I have to protect everything, everyone! I can’t afford to fail!_

Ren raced past yet another pile of rubble, taking a moment to think about the building it had once been. Where could those guys be? How was she going to protect them? The whole situation made her head ache.

Noctis had left the others to face the Trial of the Leviathan, which meant Ignis, Prompto, Gladio, and Ren were tasked with getting as many people to safety as they could before the Trial began. It took no time at all for the Imperials to arrive, but the destruction they had caused was so much more than Ren had imagined was possible.

Ignis had gotten separated from the group when the bridge they were all going to cross was destroyed. Ren had tried to protect him, but where was he? Was he truly unharmed? Ren had tried to chase after him, causing her to also be separated from Prompto and Gladio. She had no choice but to push forward and try to get to the altar where Noct and Luna had gone. Ignis was already headed that way and Ren couldn’t help having a bad feeling about the whole situation.

“I have to get to them,” she whispered. She brushed her hair aside to see more of the destruction around her. _Which way can I go?_

Unfortunately for Ren, Imperial troops had found where she was waiting. The first round of gunfire barely missed her. “Oh, come on! I don’t have time for you!” She yelled, pulling out a short blade. She might not be as strong as her friends, but she should be able to take down a smaller group of troops like this.

She ran toward her enemies, cutting down one of the magitek troopers with ease. “You’ll have to do better than that if you want to stop me. I won’t let _anyone_ get in my way!” Seemingly as soon as she finished the first group, another arrived. There wouldn’t be any of Altissia left to save at this rate!

 _Would you unseal that power?_ A voice not her own seemed to echo through her mind.

_What price will you pay to protect this place and the people you care about?_

Ren dropped to the ground, her hands over her head. The voice made everything ache. Gritting her teeth with pain, she answered aloud.

“I’ll protect this place, these people….no matter the cost!” Ren’s whole body started to glow silver with power. Her normally brown eyes glowed silver as well, brighter than they had ever glowed before.

_Then it will be done. But not without a price._

A barrier, looking not unlike the Wall that once protected Lucis, started to spread over some of the buildings that were still intact. Ren was so focused on reaching her friends, protecting them, that she somehow didn’t notice that she was bleeding. It was as though she had been cut by her own blade, blood starting to drip from a deep gash that ran across her back from her shoulder down nearly to her hip. With the barrier created, now she had to maintain it and get any other people she found to safety.

She ran from the Imperials, destroying the ones that she could along the way. Ren headed in the general direction of the altar where she knew her friends were also going.

_I have to protect them. I have to protect everyone!_

Her eyes glowed brighter still as she focused more energy on that barrier that would protect the docks.

“This way! You’ll be safe here, I promise! I’ll protect you!” She called out to a young woman who looked like she was about Ren’s age. The girl hesitated. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?” she asked.

Ren reached out for the girl’s hand and pulled her along. “There’s no time to explain. I’ll take you to safety, you have my word! I was asked to protect the citizens of Altissia while the King of Lucis faces the Trial of the Leviathan and that’s what I’m going to do!” Her eyes glowed even brighter now. One of her eyes had actually changed color, going from brown to gray.

The stranger was terrified of Ren. Who – or what – was this person who claimed to help? People don’t just glow like that! That was when she noticed Ren’s injuries. “Hey, you’re hurt! What happened to you?”

“It doesn’t matter! Just stay here and you’ll be safe. I swear it. No matter what, I’ll protect as much as I can. But I need to go now. The others need me.” Ren and her companion had finally arrived to the safety of the barrier. “I’ll be fine. You take care of yourself now, alright?”

“Be careful!” The other girl called to Ren as she sprinted away, heading toward where she knew Noctis was. Ignis was faster than she was, he was probably much closer by now. Ren had a bad feeling that she just couldn’t shake as she kept running.

Nearing the altar, she saw more and more Imperials. _Noct!_ And then there was something else, a fire that she could sense was deadly. What was going on? Ren cut a path through but she was already too late.

“IGNIS!” He was on the ground, a massive burn covering his left eye. Ravus stood over him, speaking softly.

“I won’t…I won’t let anyone else hurt him….” Ren was in a daze. She had failed, arrived too late. Noctis and Ignis were both on the ground, and she had wasted too much time reaching them.

“I won’t let anyone hurt them. Not ever again!” She reached out again for her power.

 _Will you pay the price to unseal your power? Will it be enough?_ The voice whispered in her mind again. Ren felt no need to say anything out loud this time. She would protect them, those two who had taken her in when she had nothing.

_I’ll pay whatever price I have to. I’ll stop this fighting – all of it._

The shield her magic created surrounded the entire altar, enveloping it in a brilliant white light. Ren dropped to the ground as she finally felt the blood price she had been paying to use so much power wash over her. Blood dripped on to the ground, pooling around where she could no longer move. She reached out, trying to crawl towards her friends.

“Ignis…Noct…” The world was getting darker. She was tired, barely keeping her eyes open. Her body wasn’t glowing any longer, and though it was hard to tell, her eyes had changed yet again. One was now the same shade of green that Ignis’s eyes were.

“Noct! Iggy!” Gladio and Prompto had found them!

“And what have we here?” Ravus looked down on Ren’s small form on the ground.

“Ignis…” She said again in a small voice, struggling to reach out towards the others. Gladio and Prompto had run straight to where Ignis and Noctis were. Ren was glad, she wanted them to check on those two first. After making sure that both Noctis and Ignis were as alright as they could expect in a situation like this, Prompto turned and noticed Ren for the first time.

“Ren!” He rushed over to her. The last thing she heard before losing consciousness was Prompto’s voice calling out to her.

“Don’t you die on us!”


End file.
